One More Thing To Consider
by Gilded Game God
Summary: Kate goes on a business trip, leaving Keith feeling alone. He decides to tell her how he really feels about her when she gets back. Through song. - KatexKeith two-shot, a little OOC. Warning: Epic fluffiness inside.
1. Ch 1: Memories

**A/N: Alright, everyone. This is my second fanfic, my first two-shot, and my first songfic. I'm generally opposed to songfics, but I heard this song on the radio ****and couldn't help but go with it. BTW, I'm not telling the song until I post the second part, just to add to the "I-want-to-read-more-of-this" factor. (Then again, if you can guess the song without me telling, that kinda defeats the purpose.)**

**Thanks to everyone who read my first fanfic, and thanks in particular to "Wyla" and "LAM or DE REAPER EEHH" for leaving a comment. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, the characters mentioned, or Google. (Cuz if I did, I'd be rich and wouldn't be here right now.)**

* * *

"Hey, Kate."

"Oh, hey, Keith! What's up?"

Keith reclined back in his easy chair and put his cellphone on speaker-phone. "Nothing much. Just got back from helping some old dude clean up his yard. A bunch of Snorlax tore it up and he needed help."

"Sounds fun," Kate said sarcastically. "That all?"

"Yep, pretty much. So, how's Hoenn?"

"Oh, it's amazing! They have so many different types of Pokemon here that aren't in Almia. I'll see if I can capture one and bring it with me."

Keith chuckled. "Nah, just take a few photos. That'll suffice." Keith paused. "So, when do you plan on coming home? I miss you, Katie."

"Aw, Keith, you're gonna make me cry!" Kate said with a chuckle. "But really, I think maybe it'll be a week or so. And I miss you too, but these people need me here to do these lectures. They've never had a Pokemon Ranger before, y'know."

"Never!?"

"Never."

"Wow," Keith said. "That's weird. What do they do to protect themselves, then?"

Kate sounded surprised. "You've never heard of Pokemon Trainers? Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Well, maybe I can get one of them to come with me. You can actually learn something about inter-regional culture." She giggled. "At least, more than you did in Ms. April's Culture class."

"Hey, I passed that class!"

"Yeah, with a D+."

"Hey, those teachers give out fewer D-pluses than D-minuses. It's-"

"Not a grade they like to give out," Kate recited. "I've heard it before."

"Well, it's true!" There was a short pause over the phone. Kate spoke after a few seconds.

"So, everything alright with you?"

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, I'm fine, I guess." Keith sounded unconvincing.

"You guess?"

"Well, I just... I don't know, I guess I haven't had much to do recently. Ever since you went out to Hoenn, things have gotten really boring here in Almia. All I have to keep me company are my partner Pokemon, and as much as I love 'em, it's still..."

"Not the same?" Kate finished.

"Yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's cool hanging out with them, but there's nobody else – like, people-wise – to hang out with. Sven's always out with Wendy doing their thing, and Rhythmi can't ever leave the Union. And Murph... well, I think you can finish that thought."

Kate laughed. "Yeah, I get what you mean." Another long pause.

"So... I guess I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah, I have to go anyway, some guy named Birch needs me at his lab. I'll talk to ya later, Keith!"

"Okay, Kate. Bye."

"Bye!" *_Click.*_

Keith closed his phone and sighed. "Love ya," he whispered to himself. He stood up from his chair, and picked up the acoustic guitar in the corner of his room. _I wonder why I never learned to play this thing... _He sat back with the guitar in his lap, and thought back to the day he got the guitar.

* * *

_It was a bright day in Altru Park. The sun was shining, the Taillow were singing, and people were enjoying one of the last warm-weather days of the year. There were children running around, playing Tag, Follow-the-Leader, and other childhood games. A young couple was sharing an ice cream sundae next to a decorative fountain. It was generally a normal day. _

_However, one corner of the park, complete with a picnic bench and a grill, had been taped off, reserved for a special event. Professor Hastings and Chairperson Erma were waiting there, as well as Rhythmi, Sven, and Wendy. They were waiting impatiently for someone – a couple of someones, actually._

"_My goodness! How much longer must we wait for them?"_

"_Calm down, professor. They'll be here any minute."_

"_Yeah, Rhythmi's right. I just got a Voicemail from Kate saying they wouldn't be much longer. Maybe in, like, five minutes."_

"_That was five minutes ago, Sven."_

"_It was?"_

"_Yeah. Y'know, maybe I should get you a watch for your birthday."_

"_Shh! Not now, Wendy, here they come!"_

_Just as Sven had said, Kate was approaching, with a blindfolded Keith following. She was silently holding a finger to her mouth, trying to shush her friends. Keith, on the other hand, was loud enough to alert everyone in the park that they were there._

"_Kate," he whined, "how much further is it? I'm tired of walking."_

"_Then you shouldn't have released our Doduo. Besides, I'm tired too, and you don't hear me complaining about it."_

"_Okay, but you still haven't answered my question. How much further?"_

"_Ugh... Not much further, Keith." _Jeez, baby,_ she thought to herself. "Alright," she said after a few more steps, "open your eyes."_

"_They are open, Kate. But the blindfold's in the way," Keith joked._

"_Oh, you know what I mean!"_

_He chuckled as he removed the blindfold._

"_SURPRISE! Happy birthday, Keith!"_

"_Wha-! You guys did all this for me!?"_

"_Of course!" Kate chimed. "We wouldn't forget about our best Top Ranger, would we?"_

_Rhythmi ran over to Keith and gave him a big hug. "Keith! I missed you!"_

"_Ack- I missed you too, Rhythmi," Keith gasped. "Now, let go of me!"_

"_Oh! Sorry!" she giggled. "So, how was your trip to Fiore? You have fun hanging out with your dad?"_

"_Yeah, it was awesome! We went camping, and he taught me how to use a bow and arrow, and we went fishing, and-"_

_Chairperson Erma cut him off, laughing lightly. "Now, Keith, there'll be plenty of time for that later, don't you think? We've many things planned for today, and if we're to continue as planned, we have to start now." She smiled. "Do you accept this mission, Keith?"_

_Keith flashed his signature wide grin. "I don't know, guys," he said sarcastically, "sounds pretty dangerous." Everyone laughed. After a comical, dramatic pause, Keith said, "Alright, Erma, I accept! Let's do it!"_

* * *

Keith recalled wonderful, happy memories from that day – of swimming at Nabiki Beach; of having a capture race with Kate, Wendy and Sven (Kate won, of course, but just barely); and of trying to teach Rhythmi how to use his new bow-and-arrow set (but stopping after she nearly hit a passing-by Spearow), but the one memory stuck out in his mind.

* * *

… "_And now, here's Kate's gift, Keith!"_

_Kate turned a little red. "I hope you like it," she said with a smile._

"_You better, Keith," Sven interjected. "It's the last one."_

"_Whatever it is," Keith interjected with a grunt, "it's pretty big." He hefted the big box onto the picnic table and laid it down. It was about three feet tall, wrapped in bright green Aipom-print paper, in a big rectangular box. Kate smiled even more when he attacked the wrapping paper with vigorous excitement. _

_He lifted the lid to the box to reveal a beautiful polished two-tone orange acoustic guitar. It was in pristine condition, and the reflection from the sun cast a gleam over the smooth body. It almost shimmered, fading from black on the border to red and to a warm orange in the middle. The neck had shining gold inlays that caught Keith's stunned eyes. He was speechless. It was absolutely perfect, every inch of it. _

_Kate walked over to his side and leaned in towards him. "So...?"_

"_It's... amazing, Kate."_

_She smiled and her face turned even redder. "I knew you'd like it."_

"_Like it? I love it, Kate. Thank you so much." He turned to her and gave her a hug._

"_You're so welcome," she said playfully, returning the hug._

_Keith leaned out of their embrace and turned to the others. "And thank you all for probably one of the best birthdays I've had in a long time. You guys are awesome!"_

"_Aww..." Rhythmi started walking towards Keith. "Group hug!" she said as she threw her arms around Keith's shoulders and squeezed him even tighter. The others joined in until a massive 7-person hug resulted._

* * *

Keith smiled to himself. _Good times, _he thought to himself. He pulled the guitar pick out of the strings, and started fiddling around, making up some very discordant chords on the spot. Then, after Rhythmi called in to him ("Keith, would you cut that out? I can't hear what Sven's trying to say to me"), he thought to himself, _Maybe I should look up an actual song to play for Kate when she gets back. I can tell she'd love it,_ he thought.

_Only one problem, though, _he added.

_What song? _He thought for a moment. ..._Nope, I've got nothing. Maybe I can turn on the radio and find something._

He looked down to his Styler, and turned on the built-in FM tuner. After a few seconds of station-searching, he found a song that sounded familiar to him, though he couldn't remember where he'd heard it before. He sat on his bed for about 3 minutes, just listening. The song was absolutely sad, and all acoustic guitars and vocals, but Keith loved it. He managed to pull a few lyrics from it by the time it was over, but nothing else other than the name.

So, he went over to the computer on his desk, and Googled it. After a few pages of searching, he found the song. He played it from the beginning this time, and realized where he'd heard it before. The opening melody, whistled by the lead singer, was the same as a lullaby his mom used to hum to him when he was younger.

He looked up the lyrics, and found out they hit home pretty accurately.

_Yep,_ he thought. _This is the one._

* * *

**So, whaddya guys think? I personally like it, but as I've said, I'll leave that up to you guys to judge. Please leave comments and criticism, and even if you didn't like it, say so. **

**And also, spot the movie quote! (Hint: It's a comedy from the 90s.)**

**Peace out,**

**-G3**


	2. Ch 2: Patience

**A/N: C'mon, guys. Only one review? I know I got more hits than that. I'm pretty sure the phrase "please respond" was in my last A/N a couple of times. Even if you didn't like what I wrote, I'd still like you to let me know what you think could've been better.**

**Oh, well. Thanks again to LAM for commenting, and to Dawnshadow1228 for fave-ing. And to the rest of you who didn't comment, please do so this time. Otherwise, you will make me very sad. **

**And as for the song, it's called "Patience" by Guns 'N Roses. Look it up and listen to it, pleez. It'll help you understand how I wrote this a lot better.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, the characters, or the song. **

* * *

"Welcome home, Kate!"

Kate smiled as her friends all greeted her at the Almia Regional Airport. She put down her suitcase and ran over to them, ensuing a happy group hug.

"So?" Rhythmi asked. "How was Hoenn?"

"Oh, it was amazing! I got to meet all kinds of new people and Pokemon, and I taught all the kids there about what we do here. They all loved it."

Prof. Hastings stepped forward. "Yes, well, there'll be quite enough time for all this chit-chat later. For now, we've something special planned for your return today, Kate."

"Yeah," Rhythmi said excitedly, "a party!"

Everyone groaned. "Rhythmi," Sven said, "why'd you have to spoil it?"

"Yeah," Wendy added, "it was supposed to be a surprise!"

"It was?"

"YES!"

"Oh... so that's why nobody was talking about it..."

Kate laughed a little. "It's alright, guys. It's the thought that counts, anyway." Kate picked up her suitcase. "So, are we gonna stand here all day, or are we going to the Union any time soon?"

"Of course!" Hastings said. "Let us not waste any more time!"

* * *

The day was full of plenty of festivities – eating, drinking, and generally being merry. Everyone was happy, worry-free. Erma even baked Kate a chocolate "Welcome-Home" cake filled with pudding – "Just the way I like it; thanks, Erma!" – that made everyone feel absolutely stuffed. It was a wonderful day, and it led to an even more wonderful night. The land itself seemed at peace – quiet, calm, no disturbances, no disruptions.

The Ranger Union was also unusually quiet that night. Everyone was relaxing, softly chatting with a nearby co-worker. The Operating Room was the most unusually quiet. Normally there were lights flashing, alarms going off alerting the Union of any emergency missions. Tonight, though, there were no emergencies. Therefore, no alarms, no lights, and no activity. Everyone was relaxed, at peace.

Everyone, that is, except Keith.

Then again, nobody knew how Keith was feeling, because nobody could find him.

Kate was busy reading a novel in her room, relaxed in her favorite chair, when she heard a knock on her door. "It's open," she called.

"Hey, Kate." It was Wendy. "Have you seen Keith?"

She looked up. "Hm? No, sorry."

A smug look came across Wendy's face. She turned behind her. "Hah!" she called. "See? She doesn't know where he is, either, Sven! You owe me five bucks!" ("Aw, man!")

"Why? You need him for something?"

Wendy turned back to face Kate. "No. Nobody does. We're just worried about him. D'you know where he might be right now?"

"No, I don't. I'll help look, though." WIth a sigh, Kate bookmarked her page and got up. Wendy let her through, and Kate closed the door behind her.

She checked Keith's room.

"No Keith here."

She checked the Research Room.

"Nope. Nothing."

She checked in the lobby.

"Not here, either."

She even checked behind the Union building.

Still no Keith, though.

Kate was becoming extremely worried. _What if something happened to him? If he hurt himself, or got knocked unconscious, or..._ She stopped herself there before she could let her mind wander any further on the subject.

"Keith! Where are you!?" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Above her, she heard a faint voice. "Up here!" it called.

She looked up at the roof of the building, where the great Tree of Harmony had been planted, and saw Keith bent over the balcony. "Come here!" he said. "And don't let anyone know I'm here, either!"

With a smile, she nodded and headed into the building.

As she headed for the roof, Wendy passed by her. "Hey," she said, stopping Kate. "Where's Keith?"

"I don't know," she said, trying her best to sound unhappy. "I'm just gonna head up to the roof and sit under the Tree of Harmony for a little bit."

"Oh," she said. "You... need to talk to someone?"

"Nah," she grunted. "I'm fine. I'd rather be alone."

"Well, OK," Wendy said. "Hope you feel better."

But Kate was already on her way to the roof.

* * *

"Hey."

"Hey!" Kate whispered. "What are you doing up here all by yourself?"

"Y'know, you don't have to whisper," Keith said matter-of-factly. "And I wanted to show you something."

"Okay. What?"

"This." He held up the acoustic guitar. Even in the dark, it seemed to radiate emotion.

"So? It's your guitar. Which, might I add, you haven't even bothered to learn to play since I bought it for you."

"Yet," Keith corrected.

"Yet?"

"Yeah. I decided to learn a song to play for you. My special gift to you for when you returned from your trip."

"Okay. Have I... heard the song before?"

"You may have," Keith said slyly. "I heard it on the radio a few days ago, so I don't know." He picked up the guitar, leaned against the Tree of Harmony, and breathed deeply for a few moments.

After a brief pause, he picked up the white guitar pick laying at his side. "Okay... here goes." He counted down to himself, mouthing the numbers.

_1, 2, 1-2-3-4._

And then he began to play.

It was a simple chord progression, nothing more than a few basic chords repeated. But it made Kate's eyes light up.

Keith began to whistle the familiar lullaby. He closed his eyes and simply played, blocking out everything else going on around him. The music that flowed from his hands, and the melody that flew through his lips, instantly made both of them feel calm. Kate rested against the tree and just listened to Keith playing.

Then, Keith began to sing. It was soft, low singing, but smooth. The words seemed to flow from some vessel, deep inside of him.

_Shed a tear 'cause I'm missing you,  
__I'm still alright to smile.  
__Girl, I think about you every day now._

_Was a time when I wasn't sure,  
__But you set my mind at ease.  
__There is no doubt you're in my heart now._

_Said, woman, take it slow,  
__It'll work itself out fine.  
__All we need is just a little patience.  
__Said sugar, make it slow,  
__And we'll come together fine.  
__All we need is just a little patience._

Kate's foot started tapping the beat out into the dirt, a soft, steady metronome, as Keith hummed to himself a little bit before beginning again.

_I sit here on the stairs,  
__cause I'd rather be alone.  
__If I can't have you right now, I'll wait, dear._

_Sometimes, I get so pissed,  
__But I can't speed up the time,  
__But you know love is one more thing to consider._

_Said woman, take it slow,  
__Things will be just fine.  
__You and I'll just use a little patience.  
__Said sugar, take the time,  
_'_cause the lights are shining bright.  
__You and I've got what it takes to make it.  
__We won't fake it,  
__Oh, I'll never break it,  
_'_Cause I can't take it..._

Keith kept playing the rhythm chords as he spoke. "When I first heard this song, I thought of you, Kate. About how you set my mind at ease, and I shed a tear missing you, and all that stuff. But it's all true." For the first time, Keith opened his eyes and looked at Kate, but kept playing. He spoke sincerely.

"Kate, I love you. And it took me a week away from you for me to realize that, but I get it now. I really love you."

Kate looked off in the distance, up at the stars through the thick canopy of green, as she sat in the shadow the tree cast over the two. She smiled a little before she spoke. "It's funny, Keith. Because I heard this song on the radio the same time you did. A few days ago, after I talked to you on the phone. It's a beautiful song. And I love it, too." She closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath.

_I been walking the streets at night,  
__Just tryin' to get it right.  
__It's hard to see with so many around,  
__Y'know I don't like bein' stuck in the crowd.  
__And the streets don't change, but maybe the name.  
__I ain't got time for the game  
_'_cause I need you.  
__Yeah, yeah, well, I need you._

Keith had joined in.

_Ooh, whoa, I need you,  
__Whoah, I need you  
__Ooh, this time..._

Keith finished the final closing chords. He let the strings ring out in the night, reverberating against the horizon and returning as an echo, a natural amplification, nature's way of showing her approval.

Keith looked over at Kate, and to her surprise, found that she was crying. He laid the guitar down by his side, leaned over and wrapped his arm around her. "You sounded beautiful, Kate. Thank you."

She looked into his eyes, and smiled. "No, Keith. _We _sounded beautiful."

And she closed her eyes and leaned in to kiss him. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled himself deeper into her. She could feel him, his warmth, the comfort in his embrace. She enjoyed the moment. She enjoyed _him. _She didn't want it to end.

He responded by returning the emotion. He felt the flame that forever burned inside of her, consuming them, bringing them closer together than ever, the flame that only fueled his own emotions even more. He pulled them together, sealing the bonds that had formed over their years together.

Together, they sat, wrapped in eachother's arms, blanketed in the passion that culminated in this kiss, this sign of true love, burning together in the night.

When they finally separated, Kate looked into his eyes. Keith looked back into hers. And they both understood.

She smiled and laid her head in his lap, and looked up at the stars. He placed his hand in hers. And they stayed that way, wrapped in eachother's arms, sleeping through the night together.

* * *

**Well? I can haz reviewz?**

**-G3**


End file.
